Enhancing learning through a college based tutoring program

Technology and technology education changes by the hour making it extremely difficult for university and college instructors and professors stay current on the latest advances in the field, preparing course materials and delivering lectures. It is equally difficult for the students to keep up with this information and they are often left without the opportunity to engage in additional interaction that they might need to understand the materials and successfully complete the course. Professors have office hours however, this time is limited and that time is rarely adequate leaving the student without the resources he or she might need. In order to address this need, the College of Technology (COT) has introduced a tutoring program designed to provide individual tutoring for students majoring in the COT programs. COT students can request the services of a tutor for technology curriculum as well as required courses that fall outside COT conducted courses, e.g. math and engineering courses. An additional feature of this service is that it is free to the student. This paper will discuss the process used to identifying tutor and the method of outreach to the students. In addition, this paper will review the findings of a survey that was conducted during the fall 2005 semester. This assessment was designed to establish a baseline for the program and identify areas for improvement. Specific goals included: Defining organizational needs and future project objectives Identify target performers and establish a baseline of data in data to define success Determine possible causes of performance gaps Recommend possible performance improvement solutions.